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Saturday, September 26, 2015

Dear Readers, I’m
thrilled to be included in this new devotional book, one that lovers of fiction
will really enjoy. What could be better than a short story and a Life
Application for a devotional?

Welcome back, Kathy. Tell
me about your upcoming book.

21 Days of Christmas: Stories that Celebrate God’s Greatest
Gift is the second in a series of Fiction Lover’s Devotionals, published by
BroadStreet Publishing. It’s a collection of short fiction stories, all written
by different authors—some new, some intermediate, and some beloved bestsellers.
Each story is followed by a brief Life Application, written by the author of
the story that suggests how the messages inherent in the tale can be applied to
the reader’s daily life.

What’s unique about
this series?

A lot of readers today love Christian fiction. But in their
quiet times with the Lord, they want something with a little more depth … and
something a little shorter than a novel. There are lots of compilations with
short true stories out there. The Fiction Lover’s Devotionals are for readers
who enjoy fiction. For people who haven’t discovered the joys of Christian
fiction, these short stories will be a great introduction to it.

Which authors are
included in 21 Days of Christmas?

Well, you, of course! It also has chapters by Joanne
Bischof, Jan Cline, Lynn Kinnaman, and more. Bios of contributing authors are
featured at the end of each chapter, so readers can get something new from the
novelists they already know and love as well as samples from other authors they
can add to their favorites list.

Do you have a chapter
in 21 Days of Christmas too?

I do. It’s a story of what might have gone through Joseph’s
mind in the moments after Mary gave birth to Jesus. I loved imagining what it
must have been like to realize that you’ve been called to teach God’s Son about
God. Based on what Joseph was raised to believe about the Messiah, that
experience must have been mind-blowing!

What’s one of your
most cherished Christmas memories?

When I was maybe ten years old, my mom asked my dad to build
dollhouses for me and my two

younger sisters. He collected scrap lumber, carpet
samples, strips of wallpaper, paint, and tiny furniture pieces. After working
all day, then waiting for his daughters to go to bed, he stayed up late into
the night in the garage, constructing a two-story house with five rooms, glued
to a board that was painted green and had little trees in the wooden yard. The
night before Christmas Eve, the dollhouse was finished. And my mom asked,
“Where are the other two?” What? “You have three daughters, Wayne. You can’t
expect them to all share one dollhouse.” After a last-minute shopping trip, he
stayed up all night and built two more houses—identical in size, shape, and
floor plan, but each with different wallpaper and paint and furnishings. When
my sisters and I woke up on Christmas morning to three beautiful dollhouses,
mine was the only one we could play with right away because the paint hadn’t
yet dried on the other two! I still have a picture of those houses, with me and
my sisters grinning from ear to ear, on my china cabinet.

What’s your favorite
Christmas tradition, and why?

Since both of my kids are now grown and living in different
states, Christmas at home is pretty boring. So my husband and I fly to Colorado every year to
spend the holiday with my parents, my sister, her three kids, and one of my
adult sons. The other adult son joins us there every other year with his wife.
This year, they’ll be bringing along my new grandbaby. Yea!

You’ll love that.
Grandchildren make Christmas more special. What are the other book titles in
this series?

21 Days of Grace:
Stories that Celebrate God’s Unconditional Love released June 1. 21 Days of Love: Stories that Celebrate
Treasured Relationships, is scheduled to release January 1, 2016, for
Valentine’s Day. And 21 Days of Joy:
Stories that Celebrate Motherhood, is schedule to release April 1, 2016, for
Mother’s Day.

How do you see people
using these devotionals?

The books are being published as beautiful hardcover gift
books—small enough to take with you wherever you go, and with chapters short
enough to read anywhere. You can enjoy these stories over breakfast, at lunch
break, before bed, or curled up in your favorite chair with a cup of coffee or
tea. These books could also be used in group settings—for your book club, Bible
study, life group, Sunday school class, or just getting together with friends.
They make terrific gifts too—especially 21 Days of Christmas!

Where can people
purchase the book?

The print version of 21 Days of Christmas can be ordered
online at Amazon, BN.com, ChristianBook.com, Cokesbury.com, and GoHastings.com.
The e-book is available from Amazon, BN.com, iBooks, and Google Play. 21 Days of Grace is there too! The books
can also be found at Christian bookstores and some Walmart, Barnes and Noble,
and Hastings stores.

What can readers do
after they read the book?

There’s a forum on FictionDevo.com where people can post
responses to the book and the stories in it. They can also do that on
Facebook.com/FictionDevo.

Are you looking for
stories for future books in this series?

If the first books sell well, the publisher will continue
the series, so we could have several more titles to come. If you follow me on
social media, or sign up for my newsletter, or check the FictionDevo.com
website, you’ll get updates as they happen.

Thank you, Kathy, for sharing this new book in your devotional series with us today.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Google+, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link:Http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com

23 comments:

Isn't Christmas time wonderful?!?! It's funny, I also got a home built doll house for my 10th Christmas(my 2 younger sisters didn't get theirs until they were 10) the background of the picture looked very similar to yours, the same kind of drapes & TV...I figure we must be fairly close in age. ;) Thanks for sharing this precious memory & chance to win your book!rw620 AT aol DOT com

Robin in NC ... So glad my old family picture stirred fond memories for you as well. Did you by any chance grow up in the Midwest? I think everyone had the same drapes, carpet, TV, etc. Then again, there weren't near as many options for TVs then as there are now. :-)

Linda Kish, I found it hard to get in the mood for Christmas the first few years after I moved to sunny So Cal too. But all the other benefits of living in "Camelot" do help soothe the ache. :-) Especially since you can drive an hour during the winter and get to snow! I used to take my boys to a cabin near Big Bear for a week (or at least a long weekend) so they could build snowmen and play with sleds and toboggans ... and build a fire in the fireplace because we actually wanted the heat. Now that my boys have grown up and moved out of state, my hubby and I fly to Colorado every Christmas to enjoy THEIR snow ... and my family who live there. :-)

To those of you who don't win a copy of 21 Days of Christmas in Lena's giveaway: I will be holding a contest on my Facebook page soon (probably in the next week or two). Keep an eye on that Facebook page, or go to www.KathyIde.com and watch for the blog announcement or sign up for my newsletter.

Kathy, I look forward to reading this book and perhaps using the devotionals in my Teen Sunday School class. My dad didn't build me a dollhouse but he surprised me with a tin schoolhouse the Christmas when I was nine. It included a teacher, students, desks, blackboard and books. I still have the schoolhouse and my memory was published in a Gooseberry Patch Christmas cookbook. Priceless memories can never be taken away, as long as our memories exist!Blessings!Connie from KYcps1950 at gmail dot com

I am working on putting together a Study Guide for 21 Days of Christmas, like I did for 21 Days of Grace, the first book in this series. It provides additional questions for each chapter so you can go deeper with the lessons inherent in the short stories. It's great for individual use, families, or groups like book clubs, life groups, Bible studies, or just friends who want to get together and share.

I expect the study guide to be available sometime next month. It will be offered as a free PDF on the www.FictionDevo.com website and as a 99-cent e-book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.